My New Dream
by brookegrace
Summary: She's always stood on the sidelines, watching everyone she ever cared about build a life without her. Then she was given a precious little baby to foster, and it was okay for a little while, but only a little while. One shot.


_This takes place in the episode where Brooke gets the call that Angie is ready to go home. I changed it so that in the call, Brooke was told that Angie would have to leave in two days. Certain events haven't happened and some are in different order than in the show. I wrote this a few days ago and I hope you all enjoy.  
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They never did go to the beach, and if Brooke's mood is any indication as to why, then it's really no secret. The house seems so quite, as if the baby's already gone, and it takes every inch of will power she has not to go wake the sleeping girl.

She knows that she should get used to the hollow silence, but it hurts too much to think about the little life not being with her. At first, she did her best not to get too attached. But that was damn impossible because Angie's smile was just too cute and then pretty soon she started to forget that it wasn't _her_ baby.

But God, does it feel like she is.

She thinks back to her slip up, and her cheeks noticeably redden. She didn't mean to refer to herself as mommy, and quite frankly she's humiliated by it.

She's supposed to be professional about all of this and definitely not supposed to have the feelings that she does, but how can she help it? Angie's the closest thing to family that she's ever had.

Sure, Victoria was around those first few years, because Brooke was like some sort of new toy. But then she started to be able to talk back, so her mother began to go on more trips with her unstable father.

Peyton doesn't really count as family either, because as much as Brooke loved the curly blonde for letting her stay, Peyton never wanted Brooke around when her father came back from the sea. And Brooke understood that Peyton just wanted alone time with her dad, but it still hurt to go back home until his next trip. She figures that Peyton just liked her company because it beat being lonely. Brooke can't really blame her, she figures she kept coming back to Peyton because she didn't like being lonely either.

Almost as if Angie's somehow attuned with her now-mommy, she begins to cry. Brooke springs from her couch, shawl tightly wrapped around her body as she almost runs to the baby's room.

"How's my funny bunny?" Brooke coos, leaning over the expensive crib and towards the chubby fingers that grasp out to her. She anxiously picks Angie up, wrapping her thin arms around the warm little body.

It scares her that after all these days, she's going to be taken away. And she swears that she would have been more prepared and collected about her feelings if things would have stayed the length that was originally planned, but she knows that's a lie. No amount of time can make saying goodbye easy.

"See, Angie, I think you and I should still go to the beach," the brunette explains in her bubbly voice. The little girl pulls on Brooke's hair before taking a curl into her mouth, eyes wide as she sucks on it.

"Angie, that's yucky," Brooke giggles, pulling the slobbery strand of hair from the hungry mouth. Angie's eyes dart to the living room, and Brooke sighs.

She swears that Angie's attention span is way too short, and she does realize that baby's have a short one, but this is definitely not even acceptable for someone of her age.

She throws a blanket on the carpeted floor, bending down slightly as she places Angie next to a purple monkey that the young child has become very fond of.

Brooke's pretty partial to it herself.

It took her a while to feel comfortable leaving the child on the floor while she did other things, but she quickly learned that Angie was never out of her sight.

It's almost funny, she thinks, how mothers learn to do everyday things in new ways, just to be able to make everyday life with a new baby work.

She notices her train of thought involving the word _mother_, but she ignores it. Secretly she pretends that she is, because she's poured too much into this baby to not feel like one.

And pretending never hurt anyone, and if it does, she only has herself to blame.

There's a soft knock on the door, and she almost doesn't notice it until the baby is crawling towards the entrance of the house.

She skips over to the struggling crawler, because Angie doesn't quite have the arm-leg thing together yet, and picks her up.

Bouncing Angie on her hip, she mindlessly walks over, being too consumed by the way Angie's cheeks almost dimple when she laughs.

"Luke," she says hoarsely once she opens the door, half smirk in place because although she's always loved his presence, she's not quite sure why he's stopping by.

"Uh, can I come in?" he asks in that squinty way of his, and Brooke can't help but roll her eyes as she steps back into her house, him following.

He sits on her couch and silently watches her prepare a bottle. Right now she looks happy, because there's a permanent smile fixed on her face, but when she glances over at him, and he sees her eyes, he grows confused.

He doesn't ask any questions though, because he knows that such a thing wouldn't settle well with Brooke.

He glances curiously at the little baby, but she's happily playing with a baby spoon and shows no indication of being in life threatening distress.

His brow furrows slightly, because he can't figure out what could possibly be wrong with Brooke, but then he thinks that Brooke's eyes might have always had that sadness behind them, he's just been to consumed by other things to notice it.

"I'm sure you didn't come here to just watch me fix bottles," the brunette giggles, placing the warm liquid in the tiny hands of Angie.

He's silent for a moment, watching Brooke make sure that Angie's latched on to the bottle before turning her gaze back to him, brow raised in question.

"I didn't," he says quietly, soft smile in place.

"So, whats up?" she asks in that carefree way of hers, and he's reminded of the young Brooke that he met years ago. He's proud of how far she's come, because even through all the life and carefree ways she's maintained, she's also matured immensely.

"I talked to Peyton today," he finally says, slight frown in place because it's never felt right to talk about him and Peyton's relationship with Brooke.

"Oh?" Brooke asks, her face unsure of what he's getting at.

"I think it's over," he says, and her face immediately falls into one of pity for the blonde man.

The two lovers have been in an emotional roller coaster this last year. She knows, because Peyton constantly cried about it and Haley complained nonstop about how Luke was becoming such a bad role model for Jamie.

"Oh, Luke, I'm so sorry," she expresses, placing a comforting hand on his knee that gets his mind temporally sidetracked.

She does feel sorry for him, because after all that he's gone through to be with Peyton, it can't be easy to know that things have ended. But personally, she doesn't think that he should be too worried. They're destined to be together and have always found their way.

In high school she tried to kid herself that it wasn't so, but after endless secrets and heartaches, she came to terms with it.

She knows that back then she was in love with him, but she's sure that those feelings have gradually gone away. Maybe she's just become so accustomed to the sting that always came when seeing the two blondes together, that she's just become immune.

"No, I think it's a good thing," he says slowly, watching her face contort between disbelief and amusement. It makes him grow annoyed though, because she's always made up her own mind about his feelings, and he's sure that's exactly what she's doing now.

"You're only saying that because it makes it easier to deal with the break up," she says very expertly, and he knows that she's speaking from experience, because he's seen her do it countless of times.

Only this time he really is over her, he's really come to terms with letting go of Peyton, and if anyone is going to believe him he wants it to be Brooke.

"No, I really think we're doing the right thing," he explains, causing Brooke to go into an internal battle as to what she believes, but there's just too much doubt inside to take any of what he says seriously. "I mean, I think whatever we had ended when our senior year did," he tells her.

And the defiant look on his face causes her to sigh inwardly because she's not really sure what to believe. "Well, I'll be happy for you guys no matter what," Brooke finally says, offering the brooding man a sincere smile.

She has conflicting feelings on what he's just shared with her, because she's always been so sure that the two blondes were meant for each other. But then again, she's happy because it'll finally mark the end of the messy love triangle that she's long been the odd man out of.

She's happy for Lucas, because if what he says is true, he's finally making a decision based on himself and not based on what all his friends and family say is meant to be.

The baby coughs and in no time she's by her side, the chubby body pressed against her as she begins to pat Angie's back.

"How are things with her?" Lucas asks, both silently grateful for the excuse to abandon the previous subject.

Brooke glances down at the dark eyed baby, wide smile as she thinks about just how strong Angie is. "Great," Brooke gushes, walking over towards Lucas as she tickles the little girl. "She was a trooper, they've never seen such a quick recovery," she adds, handing the baby over to Lucas.

She's no longer smiling though, because now she's reminded that Angie's going to be leaving in a few days. Lucas seems to notice her saddened state, because he's not bouncing the baby anymore, instead looking at her.

"What's wrong, Brooke?"

She thinks about not telling him, because it probably makes her sound so pathetic, but the torture has been building up inside of her and she just needs someone to talk to.

"I got a call today," she says quietly, eyes down cast as she tries her best to hide the tremble in her husky voice. "They want her to go home in a few days, Luke." Her eyes now look up at him, brimming with tears that she's desperately trying not to shed and his heart breaks for her.

It breaks because he knows just how much she loves Angie. It breaks because he knows just how much she's wanted this family. It breaks because all Brooke Davis has ever known is heartache.

And he's never really realized it until it was too late and she had ended their relationship. By then it was too hard to save her, so he slowly gave up on that, because after all, he was dating Peyton.

Before he realizes what he's doing, he leans down and kisses her. At first they're both too shocked by his approach, but then her lips move against his and his free hand wraps around her waist as if a reflex.

She pulls away before things have a chance of escalating, and he's thankful for it, because he'd temporally forgotten about the young child in his arms.

But when he does, he's reminded of the incredible woman that Brooke has become. Of the selflessness she's always had for others, and how unnoticed all of those gestures have gone.

"You'll always be a second mom to her, Brooke," he whispers as the young girl reaches over for her. Brooke takes Angie from his arms, burring her face into the soft baby hair as she shakily nods her head. "You gave her life, Brooke. If it wasn't for you, who knows what would have happened."

She looks up into his blue eyes, full of gratitude because he's been there for her in the last few weeks more than anyone else.

And she's forever grateful.

She sniffles slightly, button nose red from the crying. "Wanna go to the beach?" she asks, that beautiful smile in place as she presses her cheek against Angie's.

As they walk to the beach, hand in hand, she tries to tell herself that the kiss meant nothing. That they were just both in the moment – she hurting over Angie, and he hurting over Peyton.

But if she remembers correctly, she did once say that a kiss always meant something.

"What are you thinking?" he asks, smile in place because he's always been fascinated by the way she works.

"That I shoulda brought my sun glasses," she replies very nonchalantly, but then he elbows her jokingly and she breaks into raspy giggles.

"Come on Brooke," he chuckles, rolling his eyes at her antics.

"That I'm happy right now," she shrugs, smiling at the warm breeze of the salty ocean.

She's always been a fan of it, and as she watches the waves break in perfect sync, she's reminded of countless days that she and this blonde man spent together in this very shore.

The memories make her happy today, but it's just today. Pretty soon, she'll have no baby, and the man that seems perfectly convinced that he and Peyton are over could easily change his mind.

But she puts the thoughts in the back burner, because Lucas is now walking Angie towards the water and she suddenly feels abnormally anxious.

"Lucas, she doesn't have a life jacket," she worriedly calls out, mentally cursing herself for forgetting to buy one.

"Brooke, I'm holding her in inch deep water," he calls back, laughing as he sees her creased forehead. He turns back to the squirming baby, bending over so that his mouth is next to her little ear. "She's crazy," he whispers, not caring that Angie's too engulfed by the sea gulls and probably not caring to listen. "But we love her anyways, right?" he asks, gaining Angie's attention when he throws her up in the air, which in turn causes Brooke to shriek even though Angie's been successfully caught and giggling.

"You're never going to baby sit my future kids," Brooke says with a mixture of seriousness and amusement once Angie has safely been handed over to her.

He thinks about making some joking remark about how her kids will be his too, but he knows that such a statement would hold too many underlying emotions to be taken lightly.

"You won't be allowed to baby sit mine either," he instead settles on.

She laughs, smacking him on the shoulder as she shakes her head. "Admit that I'd make a great mom," she commands lightheartedly. Pulling the baby closer to her as she begins to blow raspberries into Angie's wet skin.

"You'll make a great mom, Brooke," he whispers, watching as her shining hazel eyes look up at him, wide smile in place as she gets lost in the bliss that is he and Angie.

It's been two weeks since Angie left. The hole she feels in her chest seems to grow deeper by the day, and as much as it hurts to listen to the CD of bed time music that she bought for Angie, she can't find the willpower to turn it off.

The silence is so raw and cold that for a whole day she even entertained the thought of buying a dog or bird, but then she realized that it wouldn't be able to sleep in a crib or finish up the last few bottles of baby food.

Her friends have surprisingly taken turns checking in on her, and Haley has even offered to have James spend the night, but to Brooke it feels wrong to take care of another child when that was her role for Angie. She's afraid that being around James or even feeling happy will make her forget the little girl.

"Brooke," that familiar voice calls out, almost echoing in the silence, but she's sure that she's just being over dramatic with that last part.

"In here," she whispers, and as she runs a hand over the changing table, she's sure that she whispered because she's been so used to a little girl sleeping in here.

Even though he didn't hear her quite response, he knew that he would find her in there.

"How are you today?" he asks, walking into the baby furnished room.

"I'm okay," she lies and they both know it.

"Pretty girl," he murmurs sadly, walking over towards her lonely frame. Her bottom lip quivers as he wraps his arms around her, unable to not bury his face in the intoxicating aroma that defines her chopped auburn hair.

"Tell me what to do to make you happy," he begs, pulling her closer because he's desperate to make Brooke feel something other than numbness.

Although her mind has been elsewhere for the last two weeks, she hears his words clearly. Maybe because she's been subconsciously hoping that he'd ask her just that, or maybe because his embrace reminds her of the other half of her heart that's still very much here and not thousandths of miles away.

"I want to have a baby, Lucas." Maybe it's the way her eyes look at him with such want, need, and desperation. Or maybe it's because he's been wanting just that since the day he fell in love with her. But either way, all he can do is oblige as he cups her pale cheeks, and kisses her sweetly on the lips.

He's never fallen out of love with Brooke Davis, and as his hips move inside of her with such force that he knows only she can match, he wonders how ever he went so long with out her.

All he can hear are her husky moans and the slapping of their skin coming together. This is their third time making love in the last four hours, but right now it's more along the lines of fucking.

She claws into his back as he again thrusts into her, her muscles beginning to clench due to the orgasm that is fast approaching.

He knows that he can't keep this up for long, because the way she's biting her bottom lip is way too sexy.

She hasn't felt this amount of pleasure in so long, and when she locks eyes with his, she can't stop the screams of utter ecstasy that escape her.

She begins to clench around him tightly, and the feeling is too much for him, so for the third time that night he empties his seed into her.

She kisses him after it's all been finished, and doesn't complain when he curls his body into hers with no indication of going home.

But the next morning she politely asks him to leave, maintaining all composure even when he tells her that he wants to be with her. She may love him, but she's still scared to death of letting him all the way in.

But then five weeks later all seven pregnancy tests tell that there's a part of him growing inside of her, and she has this overwhelming feeling that they're meant to be together – that everything they've gone through was life's way of teaching them how much they love and need the other.

And that's why when she knocks on his door, eyes sparkling as she tells him that she's pregnant, he proposes that they move in together.

And before he knows what's happening, she's wrapped her arms around his chest, whispering with every kiss just how much she loves him.

-X-

_I've had the worst 1st day of the New Year. I broke up with the person I've been with for the last two years and 11 months. Reviews would honestly brighten up my... everything... a lot right now.  
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